1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bread conveying apparatus for conveying the bread, in particular, a bread conveying apparatus adapted to change the conveying speed in a conveying path on which the bread is conveyed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bread packaging apparatuses for packaging a long loaf bread (for example, three-loaf length) into a packaging material such as a polyethylene bag have been conventionally used. For example, JP Patent Application Publication No. S44-001594 discloses a conventional bread packaging apparatus. This conventional bread packaging system is adapted to introduce a loaf bread to a scoop by an in-feed conveyer, contain the loaf bread in a polyethylene bag by a reciprocating motion of the scoop, and cause the loaf bread contained in the bag to fall from the scoop onto the discharge conveyer. Then, the apparatus conveys the packaged loaf bread to the next process (for example, a process of sealing the bag) by a flight of the discharge conveyer.
In addition, the scoop for packaging the loaf bread moves forward across a conveying path on which the loaf bread is conveyed and holds the packaging material. Further, when the scoop holding the packaging material moves back across the conveying path, the loaf bread is contained in the packaging material and the packaged loaf bread falls onto the conveying path. As such, in the conventional packaging system, the loaf bread is packaged by the reciprocating motion of the scoop.
Another conventional bread packaging system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,898. The bread packaging system disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,898 comprises a first conveyer having an endless belt on which a flight for urging the loaf bread is mounted and the loaf bread is placed; and a second conveyer having an endless chain on which an impact striker for urging the flight is mounted. In this configuration, by revolving the endless chain faster than the endless belt, the flight is moved relatively faster when the impact striker is urging the flight than when the impact striker is not contacting to the flight.
In the conventional bread packaging system for packaging the bread such as loaf bread as disclosed in JP Patent Application Publication No. S44-001594, if there is packaged loaf bread in the reciprocating motion region on the conveying path where the scoop passes, the subsequent loaf bread is not allowed to be packaged. Thus, in order to achieve the high speed packaging process for packaging the loaf bread, it may be possible to convey the loaf bread fallen onto the conveying path at a high speed.
However, the conveying speed at which the packaged loaf bread is conveyed by a discharge conveyer, i.e., the bread conveying apparatus, is set based on the timing for carrying it out to the next process. Therefore, without taking into consideration of the timing for carrying it out to the next process and only with taking into consideration of the process of packaging the bread, it is difficult to increase the moving speed of the scoop and thus the operation speed of the bread conveying apparatus. As a result, there has been difficulty in increasing the processing speed of the bread packaging system in which the bread conveying apparatus is incorporated.
In the bread packaging system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,898, the first endless belt on which the flight is mounted is expandable.
Therefore, there is likely to be a problem that, when the engagement of the impact striker with the flight is released, the contracted endless belt expands and the placed bread or the flight returns to the upstream, which may interfere the operation of the preceding process (for example, the operation of the scoop). Moreover, there are likely to be problems of the impact sound that occurs at the collision between the impact striker and the flight, and the friction powders caused by the friction between the impact strider and the flight.